Maximum Impact, Extremely Close

From Joe Paschal, Outreach Pastor:

LifePoint Church has been blessed by God with so much capacity to impact the world. Once someone asked me, “Where do you think LifePoint can make the most impact?” The context of that conversation had a global focus. Although, I do believe that God does and will continue using us to make an impact around the world, I don’t believe that is where we can make the MOST impact.

My response to the question was this: “The place where LifePoint can make the most impact is right here at home.” Why? It’s really pretty simple. Logistics. We all live here. We have well over two thousand people right here, right now that can go out into this region with the love of Jesus. Every single day of our lives, we have the opportunity right here at home to impact our neighborhoods, our places of work, our schools and every other place where we spend time with people!

At LifePoint Church, we have several Local Outreach ministries. (Please take a moment to check them out by clicking here.) We would love for you to consider getting involved in them. They’re wonderful opportunities for you to help us make that maximum impact locally. BUT don’t limit yourself to the ministries at LifePoint Church. Does that seem like a strange thing for the Outreach Pastor to say?

Perhaps. But think about it this way. God is moving in countless ways. His Spirit empowers believers to be salt and light to the world around them. There is no way one church can provide a ministry for all the ways in which God is moving. If you feel like God is moving you towards a chance to serve your neighbor and there isn’t a ministry at church that “fits” the need, please don’t pass up the opportunity! You don’t need to start a new ministry. You don’t need to go through an “official local outreach ministry”. Just do what God is calling you to do! Share His love with your neighbor, or that person on the street, or that colleague or that friend at school.

I love hearing the stories of people at church that tell me about getting involved in a local outreach that didn’t originate through our church! They’re seeing the need, and they’re taking action to meet the need. Karla Green is one of those people. She learned about an organization called Blessings in a Backpack. I asked her to describe what she’s doing and how others can get involved. Here is what she said:

Blessings in a Backpack is a unique program designed to feed elementary school children who qualify for the federal Free and Reduced price Meal program and are at risk of having little or no food on the weekends. Better test scores, improved reading skills, positive behavior, improved health and increased attendance have all been attributed to the success of this program!

Most people don’t realize that 62% of children in public schools in America are eligible to receive the federal free or reduced meals. We believe that to help those children rise out of poverty it is essential to ensure they have access to the food they need when they’re not at school. 100% of all money raised goes directly to purchase food for this program.

We are excited to announce the first sponsored school in Carroll County, Sandymount Elementary. The vision for this program is to raise enough awareness to expand sponsorship into the inner-city school systems. It costs $80 to sponsor one child for the entire school year. Please prayerfully consider sponsoring a child for the 2012-2013 school year. Donations can be made at www.blessingsinabackpack.org or by contacting Karla Green at chrisnkarla17@yahoo.com.